Page 40 - Powerful Feminine Qualities

When I first joined the movement in London, my initial service was to go every night to Southall, which is a huge
Indian neighborhood in London. I went door-to-door at night in freezing weather for at least four hours starting from 7
PM, sometimes until 10:00 or 11:00. I would knock on doors, and ask if the homeowner would let me and other
devotees come in to talk about Krishna. Once we were invited into a house. We encountered a Gujarati Indian family
watching television. They said, “We have a grandmother who would like to see you guys.” We did not understand
what they meant. They said, “She’s like you.” We went upstairs to a bedroom. There was an elderly Gujarati
grandmother. When she saw us dressed as brahmacaris – with shaved heads and saffron cloth – she immediately did
pranam, bowed down respectfully. We were invited into her small bedroom. Her Deities were on a little altar inside a
closet to which she was reciting prayers. She motioned us to sit down on her bed. Her only command of language was
in Gujarati. We could only speak English. She said, “kirtan, kirtan,” and we began to sing Hare Krishna.
All the others members of her family, her children, and grandchildren were downstairs watching some silly film on
British television. While we chanted, she made a plate of fruit and milk and after the offering performed the Arati
ceremony. Once the Arati ceremony ended, she served us prasadam (the sanctified food). Then she said, “Pravacan.”
(Bhagavad-gita class). We read the Holy book. She did not understand one word. However, she sat and listened. Then
she said, “Dhanyavad, bahut dhanyavad, thank you, thank you very much.” She was very happy. We went downstairs
where everyone was still watching television. We spoke a minute or two with the son. He said, “Oh! My mother likes
this,” which meant the rest of the family was not as attracted to spiritual life as the grandmother.
“You should bring her to our temple,” I said. “Oh! OK, OK, we will come to the temple, maybe during Janmastami. We
will come once a year.” Something happened between the grandmother’s generation and the next generation. Her
son and his family embraced a hybrid British culture – the Anglo-Hindu identity – British culture, Hindu names.
Something broke down. The passing of the culture from generation to generation broke down. This general trend is
happening today.

The genius of Srila Prabhupada
After Prabhupada started ISKCON in the USA, he decided to spread the movement in India also. He brought his
Western disciples to India and began to preach dynamically all the while showing his American and European devotees
who had wholeheartedly embraced Krishna consciousness. This created a sensation in India because Indians were
enamored by American materialistic culture. However, here there were American youth embracing India’s traditional
culture of Krishna consciousness! This gave many Indians a pause to reconsider the glory of their own heritage. The
whole world was trying to imitate the American materialistic culture. However, here were young Americans from
affluent families practicing the timeless spiritual culture of Vaishnavism.
Srila Prabhupada knew that the glorious spiritual culture of Krishna consciousness was deteriorating in India, which is
the land of sanatana dharma, the eternal activity of devotion to Lord Krishna. Once he created a base in the Western
world especially the USA and Europe, he focused on establishing the dynamic preaching of Krishna consciousness in
India. He gave the example of andha pangu nyaya. A blind man can walk but not see, and a lame man cannot walk but
can see. Andha-pangu-nyaya means the blind man may carry the lame man on his shoulder, and as he walks, the lame
man can direct his walking. Thus combined they may work, but individually neither the blind man nor the lame man
can walk successfully.
Prabhupada compared the blind man to Western civilization that had great materialistic development and wealth, but
very limited spiritual vision. India had tremendously evolved spiritual culture, but limited material facilities. If they
combined their talents in the same way as the blind man and the lame man, then together they could do wonderful
things for the welfare of humanity. America’s wealth and India’s spiritual culture could change the course of history
and transform this material world into Vaikuntha, the spiritual world. Srila Prabhupada has written:
“…this human form of life is meant for the advancement of spiritual life and for keeping the material necessities in
order. Especially in the Western countries, there are ample facilities for material comforts, but no one has any idea of
spiritual advancement. Many are hankering after spiritual advancement, but many cheaters come, take advantage of

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